Lucy Maud Montgomery

L. M. Montgomery wrote many short stories, poems, and popular children’s books throughout her life. She had an interesting personality; she would, “never keep more than two different kinds of flowers in one vase because she wanted to ‘prevent fighting.’” Using her fanciful ways and rich imagination, she wrote several books that teachers now call “classical literature.” Almost every school child in America knows her character “Anne” because they read (or were forced to read) "Anne of Green Gables" in school. However, after that, almost no one knows about L. M. Montgomery’s history, much less knows what the “L. M.” stood for. In this paper, I shall try to explain a little bit of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s complicated background and the reasons she became my hero.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (Google Images)

Lucy was born in Clifton, Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Because her mother died when she was less than two years old, Lucy lived with her grandparents during her childhood. Much like Aunt Elizabeth in her book "Emily of New Moon," her grandparents raised her “in a very strict and unforgiving manner.” Since she spent so much time alone, she made up friends, stories, and adventures to keep her mind occupied. When Lucy turned 16, she worked at the Charlottetown paper. She stopped work one year later when she returned to live with her father and new stepmother. While there, she finished her education and attended college.

After Lucy graduated from college, she became a teacher, much like her character Anne. While Lucy did not enjoy teaching, she loved how she had after-school hours and the summers to fulfill her passion: writing. Lucy kept numerous journals in which she chronicled poems and short stories. Later she would revise the journals to make her autobiography. During her teaching years, she had several suitors vying for her hand. Lucy used some of the overtures she endured as situations in her books "Anne of Avonlea" and "Anne of Ingleside."

In 1905, Lucy wrote her first novel "Anne of Green Gables." Full of hope, she sent the manuscript to several publishers. One by one, each of the publishers rejected her story, saying her ideas seemed “too fanciful” or “full of nonsense.” Dejectedly, Lucy stuffed her manuscript in an old hatbox and left it forsaken in her closet. Only by chance did she find it again in 1907, and after re-reading it, she decided to submit it to be published one last time. The Page Company in Boston, Massachusetts, accepted the manuscript, and Lucy practically became a celebrity overnight. Her first novel was then translated into several languages and spread throughout the world.

I wish more people had perseverance like Lucy Maud Montgomery. This is what made Lucy my hero. Even if I want to invent the cure for cancer or unearth the next dinosaur, but do not have perseverance needed to carry out these dreams, they will never come true. If Lucy had not had the perseverance to try once more to have her story published, the idea of a red-headed and hot-tempered orphan would have never reached homes around the globe. Only because she persevered did Lucy share her story with the world. While this does not seem important or world changing, one must remember that she gave children the confidence to take adventures with their imaginations, teenagers a reminder to not grow up too fast, and adults a hint to let children dream of fairyland before the magical door is shut forever.